Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1887-07-14
Pine snak,,,

Pine Snake.
Jesse Carter q few weeks since
killed q peculiar snake IN this county
and was anxious to know what kind
it was. In looking up the matter W
find that Gonston, in . curicus book
entitled HIST. MAI. Pants5as, publish
ed in England in 1868, says: SIN
America are found asps with stings
in the tail, wherewith they strike and
kill" To the present day there are
people in America who firmly believe
in the existence Of q deadly horn or
hoop snake. Only last summer,
Philadelphia daily paper, noted for
its veracity, published = clipping
from Virginia paper, stating that
in q certain locality in said State the
horn snakes were so numerous as 70
be destructive to young oak trees.
The account says the snakes (in
mere plsy We suppose rolled hoop
like down tho hill and struck their
poison-horned tails into the trunks Of
the trees, and "a Witness observed
that the leaves upon the trees thus
stung would wither anil turn brown
in two hours, and the trees them
selves were completely DESTROYED.
The venom Of serpents is not in
furious to vegetation. That delicate
seeds will throw out roDts and sprout
in dilute snake poison has been re-
peatedIy demonstrated. A hole
bored in the trunk Of o tree and filed
with serpent venom would cause no
perceptible i'll effect to The tree. Not
long ago we met q reverend gentle-
man who sincerely believed in the ex-
istence of poisonous horn snake
not cerastes, which hss two horn-
like projections upon the head, bur
one with ''poison stire'' at the tip
Of its tail. He said be himself At one
time saw ''horn snake' killed and
pulled apart with scyshe, and that
plainly observed the scythe was COW
cred and spattered with the unmis-
taxable "white poison from the
snake. Now, snake poison is fluid
r.
generally Of pale yellowish tint, and
several drops (two to four) is the
amount contained in each venom
gland. The ''white pe,ison'' which
my friend saw upon the scythe was
simply portion of the food OF the
snake after having passed through
the process OF digestion. 1t is found
in the excrements Of all serpcnts.
Many birds, especially birds Of prey,
give off large quantities or much the
same "white poison" Knowing that
the gentleman was truly sincere in
declaring he had seen (vhat be sup
posed to be) horn snake, I was de-
sirous Of knowing to what species it
really belonged; and not having
specimens handy, ! placed before
him colored drawings of the SER
pents likely to exist In the locality
designated. In . short lime he pick
ed out the figure Of the pine snake,
Payophis melanoleucus, and exclaim-
ed, ssThat's it!"-the very same SER
pent that was pointed out az the
s.horn snake to DIR. Holbrook forty
years ago.
Its tail does certainly end Il .
horny point, as is the case with sew
eral Of our snakes, but it is needless
to say there is no venemeus gland or
duct connected with 1t Ia any way
whatever, but that is as harmless as
the bill Of a baby chick just out of
the egg. Indeed, the pine snake 10
no way harmful. 1t is without venom
fangs, and is not q constructor, like
the boas.
The pine snake feeds upon frogs,
toads, and the smaller mammals. Il
is found occasionally in Pennsylva-
mis-, frequently in New Jersey, south
ward to Florida.